A Pretty Good Course

Consumer Behavior was one of those classes where I think I've learned a lot more than I realize right now. I have a feeling that after a few weeks of watching commercials and reading prints ads after this semester it will hit me how much I've actually picked up on some of these things.

One of the topics that I have began to notice a lot is priming. I see it EVERYWHERE now, and in many ways the same goes for framing. Its remarkable how subtly we are manipulated! I am constantly comparing attributes of different products and services in my head when viewing them, and wondering why I am being told certain things and not others. Take a recent State Farm ad for example. They compare themselves to Progressive and Geico? What about Allstate? Amica? Farmer's? What is cut rate insurance? What exactly are you talking about. Flo is telling me to name my own price, while my uncle (project manager at Amica) is telling me I can name my own price anywhere, it just means I won't get any coverage. Are you trying to trick me Flo? I think you are.

Priming? Wha-hey! I'm just doing my job!

Finally, the title of this post is kind of tongue in cheek, but in reality, CB was more than just a "pretty good" course, it actually stands out as one of the more valuable Marketing courses I've taken at Roger Williams. Happy trails!

Reference Groups

I'll admit it now, I am a complete and total football fan. I watch the Patriots religiously, do fantasy football every season (and take the time to take it seriously) and will generally sit around and watch any college or NFL game on the weekend instead of doing other things, such as homework or exercising or doing something productive. During these games there is literally a cornucopia of marketing and vying for position between cheap beers, cheap chain restaurants, insurance, and even investing. All of these things however appeal to a truly American reference group, the All-American Everyman. One company who excels at this is Coors Light. I'm not a Coor's Light drinking man by any means (give me Bud or Miller High Life) but I can't help but feel for the everyman aesthetic put forth by much of their advertising.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUZr0sNy0sc


This ad just shows a bunch of buddies hanging out at a bar, and one guy who appears to never buy a round for the other guys. As silly as it seems on the surface, this is in fact a real phenomenon and will set a bunch of workingman's associated networks firing. Football-Bar-Buddies-Beer-Cheapskate-(insert buddy's name here). After watching this ad for the hundredth time, I started to think about one of my buddies who never buys a round, and always managed to scheme his way out of paying, so much that we don't care anymore. If only we had a talking Ditka poster to call him out.

Experiencer/Innovator

I knew the Experiencer was me as soon as I read the first sentence "young, enthusiastic, and impulsive." Although in some of my purchases I can come off as somewhat frugal (I enjoy getting deals on everyday foodstuffs and clothing) I've been known to blow a large amount of money on big weekend trips (Mohegan Sun for Professional Bull Riding) and on fancy clothes or gadgets.

I also am attracted to the new, the offbeat and the risky, just like the description states. The PBR show was definitely an example, because I really only went because I had never been before. I ended up spending a bunch of money on booze and a hotel room etc. Nonetheless, I had an incredible time and it was quite the "experience" even though I may never do it again.

My secondary group was innovator, which also describes me rather well. I think a lot of this may be a result of my household income, which supports both styles of consumption, but this one rings true as well in spite of that fact. I am as excited by being unique, cutting edge and interesting as I am by new experiences. I would like to think that someday I will fully fulfill this category (enough income to buy new and interesting things, emerging leader in business) in which case my types may shift and put innovator first, experiencer second.

PRIZM Cluster

Watching how my parents progressed through the PRIZM cluster is rather interesting, because it very accurately describes not only my family but my entire town's buying habits. North Kingstown, Rhode Island is inhabited mainly by upper middle class families in the Country Comfort section. I would say that in this point in their lives, my parents fit into the Big Fish Small Pond Category. Both of my parents have graduates degrees, my father a PhD. Our household income is just above the median, and once my brother and cousin move out (in the next year) my parents will be full on empty nesters.

My dad spends most of his money on household improvements, technology, and outdoor sporting equipment (canoeing/kayaking/fishing) and camping equipment. My mother enjoys reading, travelling, and watching tv and movies.

Earlier in my life however, they were closer to the New Homesteaders category, which is another large segment of NK's population. These buyers spend most of their money on their kids and paying off their first homes, and have lower (but comparable) incomes.

Possetion and Identity

After reading about a woman who lost her house and all her possessions in a fire, I was prompted to think about what possessions I have in my home that I would be as devastated if I lost them. She focused a lot on her piano, which makes me think of the many instruments that my brother and I have stored in the basement. While the loss of my guitars or my brothers drum set would be a traumatic experience, I don't think I would be as devastated as when I found out that my Jetta had been totaled and that I wasn't getting it back.

 My senior year in high school was marked by a large number of ups and a few downs, but one of the major downs was when I lost my car. The accident came after school one day, I was driving my friend Nichole and her sister and my brother home in the rain. Traffic stopped short in front of me at a light that had just turned green, so I through open the clutch and coasted into it then hit the brake. The girl behind me (who was also driving a Jetta) wasn't paying close attention and slammed into my car and pushed me into the vehicle in front. At first I laughed, thinking of how absurd it was, and assumed it was a minor accident. Upon surveying the damage, I noticed that it was mostly only body damage to my front and rear bumpers, and that there didn't appear to be any major damage to the vitals of my car. The car in front of me was undamaged, but the girl who slammed me was in a wreck. Naturally my friend Nichole was crying and saying "Matty this sucks, this is the worst thing ever etc etc etc" which I naturally ignored. My brother was off smirking somewhere, trying to figure out how he was going to rig the police report in my favor most likely.

It was a few nights later that it hit me that my Jetta wasn't leaving the body shop. The girls insurance company had gotten the estimate from out body shop and decided that the cost was too high; the sandwiching of my car between the two others had crunched the entire frame by a fraction and it was not safe to drive. Now my devastation set in. My dad presented me with the after market radio which I had installed in the car, saying the body shop was nice enough to recover it for me. I sat on the couch holding the radio I was so proud of and though about how it was part of a whole car which had become so "me" over time.

The car had a black interior and red paint job, both my favorite in cars. It was fast and handled well, with a sunroof and good sound system. All of these things exemplified not only what I loved in cars but said something about myself, especially its manual transmission. I didn't realize how important my car was to me until it was ripped from my person, and I was forced to fill the void which had arisen from my loss. Even today, my current car is an important part of who I am, but when I think of my "favorite car" or even my first car (it was actually my second) I remember my Jetta.

Priming

I'm not necessarily in the business of describing myself as an "Apple" guy. I resisted the switch to MacBooks and ended up getting an HP (though some of that was from sheer laziness.) I also spurned the iPhone and iPad as frivolous technologies and gadgetry. I'm simply too comfortable with PC, the layout, how you interact with the desktop, and even some of the code.

I am however someone who is aware of the Apple image, and I am able to view myself as someone who has been affected by their campaigns. As I type this, I am listening to my iPod, which I am very rarely without. I have about 14000 songs on it on a given day, and have a few thousand more on the iTunes on my laptop. I have respect for Apple products for how simple they are to use and the image that give off. It was for this reason I decided to invest in an iHome for my alarm clock and as a semi-portable music player.

The iHome is actually developed by another company, SDI Technologies, but is for all intents and purposes indistinguishable from an Apple product. It has the same sleek design, color schemes, and ports as an Apple product, and is compatible with all of the various iPods in my house. It also comes at a premium similar to an Apple product, ringing i at about $85 at Best Buy and $100 on the developers website. Its safe to say that if I hadn't been primed by Apple's reputation and advertising, I would be more likely faced with the "pretty good problem" when it came to clock radios.

Joining In/Staying Out

This summer was a transitional period for me. I learned a lot about who I was and who I wanted to be in regards to what I wore and how I projected myself. It came to pass that after weeks of lounging around the house, I had adopted a daily uniform of fitted hat, Polo shirt (Polo, Chaps, Nautica brand) gym shorts, and white Old Navy flip flops. It turns out that this get up makes me somewhat of a "bro". Now I don't generally consider myself a "bro" per say, although I do enjoy brotastic things such as fantasy sports, matching polos to gym shorts, rocking flip flops any day of the week (white ones no less) with the fitted cap, and of course blasting house music and being loud at parties.

Tiger Woods. A bro hero, both for his prowess, and promiscuity...

While working as an Orientation Adviser over the summer, I learned that sometimes "bro" carries a negative connotation, suggesting that young boisterous men wearing fitted caps and gym shorts and flops are viewed as somewhat obnoxious and potentially disruptive. Though I at first did not consider myself a bro, I realized that I was offended by this, and realized that in many ways, yes, I am kind of a bro.

A bro in his natural habitat. Note the fitted cap and brand t shirt, as well as cargo shorts and necklace.

The key to identifying these "bros" was of course the brands in which they wore, the brand polos mentioned above, the New Era fitted cap, gym shorts, athletic shoes or flip flops, sports jerseys, etc. The bro has many definitions, linked to a variety of activities, and as a result, the bro comes in many shapes and sizes. The bro is not pure a pure jock, though is frequently linked to sports. A bro is not a clubber, those is often linked to music and partying. Bros are at times linked to excessive partying and/or "chilling" but I personally know many bros who get their work done and are intelligent, articulate individuals (I would like to think I fall in this category).

Polo, kind of a bro brand, to be honest.

Bros are at times linked to wealth and or opulence, their choice of brands and leisure activities justify this claim, as does their choice of Universities (RWU is considered a bro school by some, though this is an unverified claim). However, a dedication to leisure and fun, as well as a way of dressing which many times is an amalgam of various brands and cost structures, qualifies any "dude" as a bro. There are lax bros, surfer bros, skater bros, prep bros, frat bros, and a myriad of others. What links these gentlemen however is, as I mentioned earlier, the stereotypical brands which link them together, and the clothing items generally linked to these brands.

See that guy, he's not a bro, neither is his lady friend.

However, one group I do not identify with is the prep. Preps are sometimes confused with bros because of their choice of clothing in some areas, however the branding is slightly different (J Crew is more of a prep brand, although there is some overlap as far as Abercrombie and affiliate brands are concerned). The prep image is also entirely different, bro culture is focused more on leisure and less on appearance or display of wealth.

The Pretty Good Problem

For the last two years of my high school career, and my freshman and sophomore summers and winters, I worked at a Mecca of consumption, the grocery store. At Dave's Marketplace I spent my days viewing countless different brands, logos, and their respective products go in an out of the doors. After a while, I became so desensitized to it all I could barely decide on whether to buy anything at all. However, I will always remember the first time I saw Smart Water. I was thirsty, yet wasn't in the soda mood, so I ended up staring at the myriad health waters, regular waters, flavored water things.The bottle was a cool shape, the labeling was interesting and different, and it claimed to be "evaporated purified etc" water, which of course to my uneducated mind meant it was far superior to all other waters on the planet and quite possibly the universe. Keep in mind, at this point I had spent years in the store and had actually walked past the SmartWater facing at least a few hundred times. However, after stopping and looking at the information, holding the bottle in my hand and saying "evaporated water...its like drinking a cloud" it became truly remarkable. Of course, it took about 30 seconds of research to figure out that its just municipal water which was vapor distilled, which actually isn't really that remarkable or cool.

Don't worry "Rachel" I won't tell anyone your water isn't from a cloud.

Hide ya kids, Hide ya wife

A recent "huh" moment struck me while watching the now famous (and hilarious) news clip about a bed intruder in Alabama. The original news clip has reached several million views on YouTube and has been posted several times, but the song (or remix) of the clip has reached upwards of 18 million views, which makes it at the very least viral. While I realize that it is inherently wrong for me to be laughing at this clip (which, for those of you who haven't seen it, can be searched in YouTube under "Bed Intruder" and will have a myriad of choices for viewing) I also realize that it might be wrong for America to be laughing at is as well. This isn't the first news clipping of African Americans (specifically those from the South) to go viral; some may remember the news clip of Latarian Milton, the 7 year old who stole his grandmother's car, or the neighborhood in Mobile Alabama where the residents believed a leprechaun had invaded a local tree. These videos have millions of views, and feature no shortage of "outrageous" outfits, actions, and vernacular. In addition to all of the people featured, the reporters all seem to have the same tone, that of dismissal and amusement. Is this trend an indication of our desire to find some convenient and amusing vessel for our veiled racism? Or is it simply that "these people" generate amusing news clips? Huh...

"You can run and tell that, homeboy!"

"Who all seen the leprechaun say yeah!"

A brief stint with mint

For me, running into a convenience store while one of my buddies is getting gas can be a stressful experience. You don't want to make him wait outside for you, yet you want to make the right choices in a store where the combination of possible snacks is infinite. Upon entering this particular Newport Shell station on Sunday night, my first inclination was to check out the chip isle, where I quickly scooped up a bag of the very familiar Doritos and Combos. Where I got hung up was at the candy bars, right in front of the cashier. Its natural for me (and most of the people I know) to choke when presented with a decision in the pressure cooker that is the area right before checkout. My favorite bar is the Three Musketeers (which I pronounce "three moosekateers" for some reason) but I was caught in a moment of indecision when I noticed the "mint dark" bar which I had never really given an eye before. Was it the hot dog to the York patty's hamburger? Was it gross? Was it worth my hard earned $1.19? How will the potential minty goodness of this bar affect my late night snackage? Unfortunately I'll never know, because I picked the regular bar, but I can't help but wonder how the choice of a different, less familiar candy might have changed my life.

Could I have had a magical night with this mistress of the mint? We'll never know.

Ceremonial First Post

This here is the first official blog post of Berry Fascinating, a blog authored by none other than Matthew "Matt" Berry.

I am a junior, Marketing major/Anthropology minor (at least that's the plan) from North Kingstown Rhode Island (about 45 minutes away from our lovely Bristol campus).

In addition to my studies in the GSB, I am also a brother in the business fraternity Delta Sigma Pi, as well as an Orientation Adviser. My main hobby is writing short stories and poetry (which involves a lot of reading as well) and am one of the founding members of RWU's first peer editing group. I also enjoy fantasy baseball and football, chilling outdoors, large gatherings of people and quiet (or not so quiet) time with family, as pictured below.

Photo credit goes to whoever wants responsibility for ruining the picture with their thumb.